Obama sees 'continued headwinds' in Europe

By JENNIFER EPSTEIN

07/30/2012 10:08 PM EDT

NEW YORK -- Speaking to a fundraiser audience that included at least a few high-powered Wall Streeters, President Obama was especially forceful in continuing to urge European leaders to take action to keep their economy afloat.

"We’re going to have some continued headwinds over the next several months. Europe is still a challenge, and a lot of people in this room who have business in Europe understand that," he said at a fundraiser at the NoMad Hotel in the Flatiron District that raised more than $2 million for his reelection campaign.

"I don't think ultimately that the Europeans will let the euro unravel," he said. "But they're going to have to take some decisive steps. And I'm spending an enormous amount of time trying to work with them -- and Tim Geithner is spending a lot of time working with them -- to recognize that the sooner they take some decisive action, the better off we're going to be."

The president also used the comparison with Europe to defend his administration's actions to keep the U.S. economy

"It's an interesting contrast to what's happened here. The fact that we took some decisive action in 2008 and 2009, despite it's unpopularity, indicates what we avoided, this chronic bleeding wound that has been an enormous problem not just for Europe now, but for the entire global economy," he said.

Tackling Europe can, along with other items on his list, help keep the United States in a dominant position. "If we can stabilize Europe, position ourselves on education, on science and technology, on energy, and a few other pieces of unfinished business like comprehensive immigration reform, then there's no reason why America should not thrive in the decades to come," Obama said.